There is not a professional triathlete competing today that has not spent time in a wind tunnel or at least with some sort of aerodynamics expert in order to optimise their cycling position and choices of equipment. This is not only a costly but time-consuming activity and one which recreational triathletes will have difficulty emulating. Not only that, do you even know where the nearest wind tunnel is to you? We can learn a lot from the findings of the pros, without subjecting ourselves as a test-dummy though. Then there is just plain common sense when thinking about how we can make ourselves ..read more

What is our Anaerobic Threshold? Very theoretically, it is the point where we find a rapid increase in blood lactate. Our body produces lactate when metabolising glycogen for fuel. At lower intensity levels our bodies utilise a higher percentage of fats in our fuel mix and therefore less lactate is produced. At easier intensities the body has more time to manage our lactate levels and actually uses the lactate to produce energy. So, training or racing at lower heart rates can be sustained for very long periods, pretty much as long as the muscles can repetitively perform the movements we are as ..read more

Endurance training is not only focused on making our bodies durable. There are many different components to the workout mix that get blended together in a training recipe that, hopefully, result in a five-star, gourmet result. One of these components, which is often not included, is ‘overspeed training’. Overspeed training is as it sounds, training at a speed much higher than we would achieve in racing. Often it is training at a speed which is artificially boosted. So, speeds that we cannot attain simply through our own effort and power. Why is this necessary you ask? The brain learns techniqu ..read more

Strength and mobility training should be maintained throughout the year, especially if we are moving up the age categories. When we were younger it was easy to take for granted what our bodies were able to do and what we were able to do with them, with the minimum of maintenance and care. As we put more mileage on our clocks, and more wear and tear, we need to be more diligent with our maintenance and servicing. Strength Training – If there is one thing that is common amongst all endurance athletes, no matter what their specific code, it is their concern over their weight. The one notable exce ..read more

Most modern runners will utilise heart rate to control the intensity of their training sessions but there are a number of schools of thought around how to calculate the different heart rate training zones. The most common model consists of five different zones: Zone One (recovery) – 55-65% of maximum HR Zone Two (aerobic) – 65-75% of maximum HR Zone Three (tempo) – 80-85% of maximum HR Zone Four (threshold) – 85-90% of maximum HR Zone Five (anaerobic) – 90%+ of maximum HR I argue that having five, clearly demarcated zones based on our maximum heart rates is over-complicated and not that accu ..read more

Pretty much every, moderately serious cyclist now uses a powermeter to guide their training. Most will have a direct-drive indoor trainer at home and an ever-growing number have on-bike meters as well. Power numbers are discussed and speculated about at coffee shops and bike stores but we have progressed from the early days where big power numbers alone were marvelled at. We now understand that power output is specific to a rider and very importantly, linked to how much we weigh. We know the significant markers of ‘Functional Threshold Power’ (maximum sustainable power for an hour) and ‘Five M ..read more

Let’s run a fast half marathon. The 21.1km distance is the most common distance event on the South African running calendar. It is a distance that is challenging while also being relatively easy to recover from, thus allowing us to race it on a regular basis. A good half marathon requires a well-constructed training progression and good pacing, both of which are significantly aided by a heart monitor. There are almost as many makes and models of heart monitors as there are half marathon events on the calendar. The functionality of these goes far beyond simply measuring the number of times our ..read more

Strength and mobility training should be maintained throughout the year, especially if we are moving up the age categories. When we were younger it was easy to take for granted what our bodies were able to do and what we were able to do with them, with the minimum of maintenance and care. As we put more mileage on our clocks, and more wear and tear, we need to be more diligent with our maintenance and servicing. Strength Training – If there is one thing that is common amongst all endurance athletes, no matter what their specific code, it is their concern over their weight. The one notable exce ..read more

No matter how many times the boffins in lab coats tell us that volume is not as critical as it was once thought when it comes to endurance sport training, we all still tally up at the end of our weeks, months and even years. As an example, popular training app, Strava sends us our year in review every December and there is very little in there that mentions intensity. It is all about the numbers and specifically, the totals. There is division amongst the endurance community though. There are two camps made up of those that add the kilometres covered and those that focus on time. I would hazard ..read more

What are the advantages and / or disadvantages to doing more than one training session a day for single discipline sports? Most recreational triathletes can prepare for their chosen events with one training session a day and the most common spread is two sessions per discipline per week plus a rest or strength day. As we become a bit more ambitious, we start to add sessions to the week and this necessitates some days having a morning and evening session. Many triathletes have become comfortable with this and the different demands that the three sports that make up triathlon place on our bodies ..read more